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2010-08-13: Same Old Song and Dance
Summary: After a short hiatus, Catwoman attempts to steal an ancient treasure. Unfortunately, an old friend is there to stop her. Location: Gotham's Uptown Participants: Batman, Catwoman Rating: PG-13, for mild violence It's been a while since Catwoman's been on the scene but, after being contacted by a semi-regular employer, she has been called out of hiding to get a precious, gem-encrusted statuette. Normally such jobs would be treated with some form of snobbery for how easy it is supposed to be but the fact that a rare and priceless sculpture of Bast, the cat goddess who was believed to protect and watch over the people of South Egypt, makes the job of particular interest to her. The scene of the theft-to-be is one of of Gotham's most renown museums which she's scoping out from a rooftop across the way, waiting for the right time for the break-and-entry to be made. The guards at the musuem across the street are thin for the night shift, with just two guarding the 'Treasure of Ancient Egypt' exhibit along with your standard high-tech laser-work surrounding. The two guards are on a fairly regular patrol, which seems to give Selena about a fifteen minute window to get in, get the treasure and get out. A tight squeeze, but not impossible for Catwoman. Of course that would be if she didn't have any other distractions. But the soft thud behind her doesn't seem to make that likely, as apparently HE wants his presence known. "I must admit, I'd given up on seeing you again," he offers, his voice low, gravelly...and perhaps just a bit teasing? The Batman steps forward, standing in the light of a nearby neon sign as he stares across as his feminine adversary. "Then again, I guess if anything is going to bring you out, its going to be Bast. Sorry to tell you, but you're getting far too predictable." He doesn't smile, but the tone of his voice clearly shows that he's having fun taunting her. Turning slowly, the would-be-catburglar's less than pleased to see -him- here as there are now an endless amount of complications to be had that coincides with Batman's presence. "Of course I'm drawn to her," she responds dryly while looking up into his eyes, her own narrowed in annoyance behind those red-tinted lenses. "She is like a mother to me, after all." Job forgotten for now, she skulks closer to the Caped Crusader, her arms folding about herself in what just might be a defensive manner. "So what brought you here? Surely it isn't little old me, Batman. All I want is to do my job and get myself a little present in the process and then go home to feed my babies. Surely you won't deny a girl her fun, will you?" Batman sneers slightly at that. "Fun is fun," he says, sighing slightly as he takes a slight step back. Uncomfortable with her proximity? "But you're talking about theft. And while Bast may be like a mother to you, tha statue is also not yours." He pauses for a moment at the question of what he's doing. "There's been an epidemic recently," he explains slowly. "Drugs laced with Langstrom's Man-Bat formula. I've been rounding up the victims, injecting them with an anti-toxin, but more and more are popping up. I was patroling the area for any more victims, saw a familiar face, thought I'd drop on by and say hello. I'm guessing you were less thrilled to see me than I you," he says, his tone and appearance still deadpan. Well, that's more than enough to make Catwoman forget just what she had planned, the job and following grab-and-run forgotten. "How many victims were there?" Not a humanitarian when it comes to her 'fellow man', she might not bother to ask but something about what was said by her rooftop-cohabitor has her startled and even concerned. "I...appreciate you coming to say hello," she follows that up with as well as a lowering of her gaze, the Cat demuring herself to the Bat in a way. The conversation on her part remains halted there as she struggles to figure out not only why she's suddenly got butterflies in her stomach but how she can get rid of the crime fighter so she can hurry up and get everything done, the reason she's here finally remembered. "Hard to say for sure," Batman says slowly. "The police are counting three dozen, but that doesn't count those cases that got infected, got away and reverted back, only to turn again once the system takes hold once more." He raises a brow slightly at admitting that she's glad he swung by. "Really?" he says dryly, not exactly sounding convinced as he remains stock still, half in the light, half in the shadows, his cape draped over most of his body. "Ten seconds ago I got the impression you were -very- unhappy to see me. My mistake." "I'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious," she offers while pivoting upon the ball of her left foot, her body tensing. "Why wouldn't I be happy to be in the company of such a handsome man as you, Batman. But, I do have a date with a cat goddess, so if you'll excuse me..." Giving him a saucy wink from over her shoulder, Selina's hand goes to the whip that's coiled at her hip while dashing towards the edge of the roof. The length of braided leather's removed from where it's kept and lashed out towards a nearby street light at the same time she makes to leap off of the edge. Seems like a game of Bat-and-Cat is about to begin. Batman blinks a few times. He's clearly rusty, as he wasn't expecting that and takes a few seconds to respond, losing valuable time for an opponent who is, quite frankly, faster than he is. He sprints towards the edge of the building, pulling his weaponized grappling hook out and finding a pivot point to swing around. Indeed, the chase has begun. Somewhere, Batman had convinced himself that he would talk Selina down from this one. Yep, definitely rusty, as he finds the maximum pivot point of his swing and lets go, shooting off another line quickly and chasing after Catwoman as she heads towards the glass ceiling of the musuem. As much as having her work interrupted Catwoman can't help but to find herself thrilled to once again play this game, it something she realizes she had missed while she was forced to lay low. The shadows are where she's heading towards, those being along the alleyway that seperates the larger building from a smaller store to its left. All the better to conceal one's whereabouts, after all. When she comes to the bottom arc of her swing she yanks the whip free from where it had been curled just mere seconds before, causing her to fall gracefully the last couple of feet. Seems like she has been practicing even if she hasn't been doing anything else as she easily tucks into a roll and gets back to her feet. Batman has to quickly turn his trajectory, as he wasn't quite expecting Catwoman to go in that direction. As she swings into the shadows of the alleyway, he can't help but grin a bit. Something about spiders and lairs plays across his mind as he lands softly on a ledge and squats. "IR Lenses, on," he mutters softly, the lenses of his cowl sliding and becoming a dark red rather than their usual reflective white. He slowly starts to slink along the rooftop, looking around for Catwoman. She may be faster, but has years of be quiet and very, very sneaky. Looking up, Catwoman can't help but to grin; Batman's gadgets are as much a part of the myth as the man himself is and she knows he has numerous tricks up his sleeves. Unfortunately she has no idea about the different lenses of his cowl so the fact that he'll have no problem finding her is left unrealized. The wall of the museum is stepped up to after she takes that moment to catch her breath, this being where the real danger begins as she uses her claws to scale the brick facade. The building itself is one of those architectural wonders Gotham's famous for, it is easily eight stories if not more, making it dangerous for her to do this. A fall would be difficult for her to recover from. Between enjoying himself watching unobserved, and not wanting to startle the climber, Batman starts to make his way up seperately, moving a bit more slowly due to an attempt to remain silent and no handy claw-gloves to give him an upper hand. He eventually makes his way up the side of the musuem, but several moments after Catwoman is able to make the long climb. And, for the moment, remains silent and still, watching the master thief do her work. Once upon the upper-most ledge Catwoman hoists herself up and over it, rolling onto the roof itself before getting onto her feet. "Where are you," she whispers to herself while looking around, her mouth turned down in a vague smile. He wouldn't give up that easily, not when he knows she is planning a burglary, and for a second it throws her. "No...keep your mind on the job," she then reminds herself. The glass rooftop is approached and crouched before, the flats of her hands placed upon one of the many panes of glass as she peers inside, trying to find out where those damned guards are. One of the two guards is circling around, in the middle of his round. He stops for a second, admiring the Bast statue from afar before moving on. Some quick mental math will make it reasonable to assume that Catwoman has 30 minutes until the other guard comes around the corner, as long as she doesn't alert the one making his exit currently. He weighs his options, but eventually decides that its only fair to make his proximity felt. A batarang is tossed from the shadows, whizzing by Catwoman's head with astonishing precision, before zipping down and wedging itself into the glass. He's certainly nearby, and probably at least one roof over. But a quick cursory glance around will reveal nada as far as his location is concerned. The guard's exit would be some focal point for an inward celebration but there is not time. She has to move swiftly if she's going to get both items and get out again. Thirty minutes is not a lot of time when someone has to also maneuver around security devices. A claw is placed upon the glass just a hair before the batarang is wedged firmly into its edge. Hissing, Catwoman turns her head swiftly towards the direction it came from, her frown now a sneer, her eyes narrowed. "Come out and play," she half-calls to Batman from her crouched position, her voice held low enough to not gain attention from anyone within the building but surely loud enough to be heard if he is using anything to amplfy sound. Sneaking around silently, Batman actually swoops down from a the one point of the musuem higher than the glass dome, landing on the glass with a loud thud, somehow not cracking it. "And here I thought you were glad I tracked you down," he intones, making less of an effort to make his presence known as he glowers down at the burglar. "You wouldn't have been lying, right? So unlike you." Down below, the racket has raised some entrance from the guard, as he squints and tries to get a good view of what is going on at the rooftop. "A lady never lies," Catwoman retorts. Getting back onto her feet swiftly, she uses her whip to try and snare Batman's feet and yank them out from under him. "Come here and let me show you how happy I am to see you." There's no smile, no sign of fondness as an indication that she's being honest, the thief too wrapped up in the moment to even so much as think about anything but how annoyed she is. Damnit, it's not fair. As she's so focused on the Bat she doesn't notice the guard who has taken interest on what's taking place above him. Makes it a good thing that she wears black. The whip is fast enough that Batman isn't really able to avoid, being brought down to the dome and making a loud enough THWACK, that this time extensive cracking does occur. A quick and relatively painless donation from the Wayne Foundation will clear that up, though for the moment he seems out of breathe, gasping for air before he rolls to one side and slowly starts to stand. "Don't take this personally, Catwoman. You do your job, I do mine. You know how this works," he says, rather professional, before quickly tossing out a wide-bola, aiming for her torso to at least wrap her up for a bit. While he can't quite make out the two dark figures on the roof, the guard certainly recognizes a fight when he sees one, especially witht he major cracking in the dome. Running off, he is probably getting his rent-a-cop buddy to figure out what their next best step is. Getting his footing might not be as easy as he expects it to be as there's an upward jerk given to the whip which might get him back down but it won't matter as she's having to dodge the bola which is sent towards her. Getting one arm up over her head keeps that limb from being trapped but the other isn't able to be gotten out of the way and it is soon pinned to her body. "Damnit," she grunts, her fingers unable to maintain their hold around the handle of her whip. Clattering to then come to rest just before her feet, Catwoman triest to free herself but the bola has wrapped around her body in a way that makes taking one's time and patience to get it unwound necessary. Seeing an opening, and not wanting to fight on an uneven surface anymore, Batman does the only sensible thing: he runs at Catwoman, head and shoulder down at his tangled up opponent. If his trajectory and aim are accurate, he should force himself and Catwoman off the roof, falling to their seeming death. Which, granted, is one way to win a fight. At the very least, as he pushes the pair off the edge, he offers a slight spoken instruction: "Hang on." Far below, the guard returns with his friend, and apparently they've decided that violent action is the only reasonable response, both opening fire on the ceiling, shattering the glass ceiling in the process. With one arm pinned to her side, Catwoman is not able to get much of a hold around Batman's neck and shoulders which results in her sudden squeak of worry. "Ohhh..." she exhales out while clinging to him as well as she can, her face burried against his neck as if bracing herself. The sound of gunfire and shattering glass is noticed marginally but is of no concern or consequence to her as there's something more important firmly seated at the front of her brain, that being how she is about to die. Batman, meanwhile, reaches into his utility belt for his back-up grappling hook. He shoots off a line, holding fast to the handle as he swings around, one arms reaching down to wrap firmly around Catwoman's waist, holding her flush against him as much as one arm will allow, creating a mutual full set of arms between the two of them. Eventually the swing takes the pair a few roofs away, where Catwoman is set down, the sound of gunshots quite clear in the distance. "Sorry for putting your life in danger..." he says, still carrying his deadpan."And you're welcome for saving it." With that, he turns, starting to walk off. The feel of soild ground under her feet is almost as appreciated as the feel of him holding her is and for a second she finds herself regretting that she's released. "Thank you," she utters sincerely only to gasp when he's about to leave her, still tied up. "Hey, you can at least let me kiss you as repayment for your heroics," she says abruptly before he can get too far. It's an offer she doubts he'll take her up on but disappointment can be had later as she is having to struggle her way out of the bola's grip. That in and of itself is keeping her too occupied to be concerned as to if he'll allow her to 'pay' him or not. Perhaps to her surprise, the Batman does stop at the edge of the roof. Slowly, he turns on his heel and makes his way back towards her, slowly, perhaps teasingly before leaning down, his face a few inches away from hers, the lens of his cowl squinting slightly as his hand reaches down and starts to unravel the bola. "I believe this is mine," he says dryly, with expertise unraveling the device and then sticking it back in his utility belt, now moving back towards the edge of the building, though not in any serious hurry. Catwoman poses, arms akimbo, a hand on either hip, which makes her figure out that a very important bit of evidence has been left upon the other roof. "My whip." There really isn't any evidence to be found as she wears gloves which would prevent fingerprints from being left but any two-bit cop who knows her MO enough just might be able to piece together the fact that she was one of the combatants atop the museum tonight. Recovering it is not an option as those same two-bit cops are probably on their way to investigate which means they'll have a present waiting for them when they make it to the upper-most part of the building. Heaving a sigh, she watches the cape as it flutters about Batman when he moves, how it does taken in as is how he moves in general. "Will I see you again?" Reaching the edge of the building, Batman stops, allowing his cape to flutter slightly as he stands stark still, considering the question for a few moments, as well as the whip; that was a bit cruel of him, seperating an artist from one of her favorite tools. He considers for a few moments, before answering. "That depends, you going to try to steal again?" he asks, the question mostly rhetorical as he doesn't so much turn to look over his shoulder. Catwoman surely has more than one whip but the subject isn't even broached, it being one she will dwell on. What she does do instead is answer Batman regardless of if he's expecting one or not if only for the fact that she wishes to keep him here just a little longer. "Of course. It's what I do." A shoulder shrugged at that, Catwoman turns away herself, now, her back facing Batman. "Guess we probably should part company. Goodbye for now, Batman." Batman hestitates for a moment before pulling his grappling hook out once more. "Yes," he says as he sees the sillhouette of a Man-Bat fly across the sky overhead. "I have work to do. Until next time," he says before shooting off his line. Right before jumping off, he adds a surprisingly casual, "and stay safe," and zoom, he's offer, zipping out into the night to try to quell the latest madness to curse this city, just as he always does. Category:Logs